We imagine and dream the future liberated, transgressive, decolonized, anti-racist, and anti-patriarchal.

We dream of each other as liberated, transgressors, decolonized, anti-racist, and anti-patriarchal individuals.

At María Fund we believe that dreaming together is a way of envisioning what is possible. We dream of achieving together to overthrow the hetero-cis-patriarchy and all its oppressions. That desire cannot be seen except from the struggles and demands for equity, justice, inclusivity, and liberation. Diverse and plural struggles, full of dreams, solidarity, and love, that lead us to live in the fullness and pleasure of celebrating ourselves for who we are.

Our commitment is to strengthen a powerful and aligned movement of leaders, organizations and social justice initiatives that are building the power of the people in Puerto Rico to continue their fights. This moves us to make visible, support and build the conditions to promote projects focused on communities that have been historically marginalized, and that lead their own movements and processes of organization and liberation. In this Pride Month, Maria Fund makes official the launch of its Initiative Sylvia & Christina or SylC for its acronym.

SylC, was born from this desire and has been named honoring the legacy, power and complicity of our Transcestors Sylvia Rivera and Christina Hayworth. Both, friends, accomplices, and allies in the struggles for a dignified life for LGBTQIAP + communities. SylC is a participatory grantmaking fund that integrates Trans and Non-Binarie activists, organizers and/or community leaders from the Borikén archipelago (Puerto Rico) in decision-making.

SylC is the result of the relationships, collaborations, and bonds of solidarity created between allies that participated in the Brigada Solidaria Trans y Cuir (QT SaS Brigade) in January 2019. Inspired by that experience, Jacobs Grounded Guided Giving (JG3), a group that is majority Trans, Jewish and anti-imperialist, offered the seed donation for this initiative, created and designed within the María Fund.

SylC was created under the coordination of Maximilián (Max) Vega Vélez (they/he), a Trans and Non-Binary, boricuir and Intersex person. Transfeminist artist and community organizer. Max is passionate about the use of arts a tool for healing and resistance, the development solidarity networks (bridges) and mutual aid efforts.

They were co-founder of the [QUEER] Sin Nombre Collective (2010-13), a space from where he collaborated in the organization of the March for Equity in Diversity and the Queer Film Festival in Mayagüez in Collaboration with the Puerto Rico Queer Filmfest. Max was also part of the coordinating team for the Colloquium ¿Del Otro Lao? (2012-14). In November 2017, they began their project Girasoles Creative Studio (@girasoles.creativestudio), focusing his work on the creation of transfeminist art. In January 2019 they joined the Trans Delegation of the QT SaS Brigade and in the summer of the same year he joined the political organization, New York Boricua Resistance (NYBR) co-coordinating the Solidarity Committee until March 2020. Their efforts were focused on creating networks ( bridges) and mobilizing resources between Puerto Rico and its diasporas. Max is currently co-coordinating with André Pó Rodil, Círculo Violeta (@circulovioletapr), a collective of artists who seek to create safe spaces to build Intersex, Trans and Non-Binary narratives of the archipelago of Borikén and its diasporas.

The illustrations of Sylvia Rivera and Christina Hayworth were created by Noa Dimedetti (he/him), a Trans Masculine artist who is the artist-in-residence, graphic designer and illustrator for Editorial Casa Cuna (@cceditorial). Enrique Betancourt Domínguez, EnBeDo (he/him), a Puerto Rican artist and designer, who collaborated in the development of the Brand and created the visual identity of SylC. EnBeDo’s work is focus in supporting the development of local brands and initiatives for impact and social justice.

Resist to Exist

We know that there are proposals and initiatives from the Trans and Non-Binary communities to address the violence they experience. The State has postponed supporting these proposals, perpetuating the constant invisibility of these communities and their rights. We believe that it is possible to get rid of the fundamentalisms and norms that are perpetuated from the cis-hetero-patriarchy. Educate, train and sensitize ourselves in a comprehensive way in order to create a world and a country capable of safeguarding the dignity, happiness and pleasure of Trans and Non-Binary people.

It is time to center the voices of Trans and Non-Binary communities in the creation of strategies that have a significant impact. Strategies that guarantee their organizing for power, safety, and access to housing rights, employment opportunities, professional development, comprehensive health services with a gender diverse perspective, food sovereignty, education, among many others.

SylC was born with the mission of supporting the dreams of groups led by Trans and Non-Binary people in our archipelago. Groups that are organizing or that dream of organizing to build power towards a future of dignified life in Puerto Rico, where their communities can live in freedom, with security and safety, autonomy, pleasure and joy. SylC will center the leadership of Trans and Non-Binary people organizing around their experiences with racism, classism, transmisogyny, ableism, ageism, immigration and other intersecting oppressions.

SylC will be focusing its efforts on three main strategies:

• Resource Mobilization (participatory grantmaking)

• Capacity Building

• Network Building

Why is our grant process participatory?

At María Fund we are experimenting with other ways to make decisions about how to mobilize resources. We understand the importance of centering the voices of people directly impacted by systems of oppression to guide these processes. As part of a participatory effort, we have envisioned the constitution of a committee of Trans and Non-Binary activists, organizers, and community leaders that will make collective decisions annually on SylC's grantmaking with a decolonial and intersectional lens:
 

The members of this committee:

• Will participate in collective study sessions to unpack and build share analysis with the intention of having a common knowledge for decision-making from an intersectional and decolonial lens.
  

• They will support our community’s outreach efforts to identify potential applicant groups.
  

• They will participate in group discussions to evaluate applications that meet the fund's requirements and make collective decisions about the grants.
  

• They will participate in virtual meetings with applicant groups as part of the evaluation process.
  

• They will be part of SylC's evaluation process and provide feedback on its structure, committee process, and resource mobilization strategies.